Hardship grant ‘unsatisfactory’

Press, 27 May 1981, Page 6

Hardship grant ‘unsatisfactory’

Members of the Lincoln College Council yesterday added their voices to the chorus condemning the student hardship grant system. They were told by the principal of the college, Professor J. D. Stewart, that until last week only 158 of the 883 students who had sent application forms to the Education Department had received, replies. The department had sent 63 of the forms back to the college seeking detailed information about the financial status of the applicants' parents. said Professor Stewart. Some of the requests were for copies of farm accounts. Of the 158 students who had received replies, 61 were told they would not receive the. hardship grant. The rest were granted amounts ranging'from. $L to $2O a week oh top of the standard bursary of s23’a . week. 'The department’s rate of reply had increased over the last week. Professor Stewart said, but the percentage of students being refused grants had also, risen.'

Professor • Stewart described the position of Lincoln College students under the system as "unsatisfactory.” Mr I. D. Leggat asked Professor Stewart if the Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) had been told of the slow service to students, and of the "unpleasant" implications of the department’s means tests. Professor Stewart, who is chairman of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee. said that the committee had made submissions to Mr Wellington asking for the system to be changed. He could not divulge details of the submissions, he said, but the crux of them was that improvements were essential. The hardship grant system was criticised by Dr W. R. Holmes at a meeting of the University of Canterbury Council last Monday, and has been the subject of complaints and protests by Canterbury University. Lincoln College. and Christchurch Polytechnic students.